I Love You, Man

Starring: Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones, Jon Favreau, Jaime Pressly, J.K. Simmons, Andy Samberg, Jay Chandrasekhar, Lou Ferrigno
Directed by: John Hamburg
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy
2009

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man (Paul Rudd) with no male friends realizes he needs to find a best man for his wedding to his fiancee (Rashida Jones). He meets a possible candidate in Sidney (Jason Segel), a seemingly great guy who may have some flaws under the surface.

Review:

Tim: I really thought I was going to enjoy this movie quite a bit. There have been a number of bromance movies in recent years, but this one tops them all- it is truly a bromantic comedy, occasionally tapping into romantic comedy cliches, which seems hilarious when they occur between two straight dudes. There are a few things I liked in this movie, but there are some flaws which caused me to be quite disappointed in the end result.

One of the main problems I have with this movie is that while there are some very funny moments, no scenes really stood out as incredibly memorable. Some of the truly funny movies in recent years- Pineapple Express, Role Models, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall all had hilarious and instantly memorable moments. This film did not. I still can't recall one scene that stood out among others. I also thought the movie delivered a story that was just effective enough, but lacked some of the real substance of similar films of recent years. This movie got close, but it never really achieved the same level of success.

The cast is a perfect example of this. I absolutely loved the cast on paper, but they have mixed results on screen. Paul Rudd has achieved so much success by playing the awkward, hilarious everyman in recent films. However, his character here just became annoying. He delivered some of the stupidest lines I've ever heard- and yes, at first, they are funny. But, they grow tired and old surprisingly fast. I really just wanted him to stop acting like a moron because it was starting to get on my nerves. This was not his best role. On the other hand, Jason Segel was absolutely hilarious in this movie. I love him on How I Met Your Mother and he was terrific in Forgetting Sarah Marshall. This is a very different role for him, but he shows his diversity by being very, very funny. He accounted for the majority of the film's laughs. I did enjoy the chemistry between Segal and Rudd.

The supporting cast likewise offers ups and downs. I was so glad to see Rashida Jones as Rudd' fiancee. I really like her and thought she did superb work on The Office. The problem is that she has so little to do in this film that her performance is mostly wasted. I really wish she had something of real substance to do. I was also excited about Jon Favreau, but he added almost nothing to the film. His role was a bit pointless and I was bored with him. J.K. Simmons and Andy Samberg have one funny scene together, but otherwise do very little.

Now, there are some very funny moments. I love the whole first meeting between Rudd and Segel- that was one of my favorite scenes. I also liked the projectile vomit scene, the dog poop scenes, and the Lou Ferrigno fight scene. While I laughed here, none of these are truly brilliant comedy scenes. Still, they did provide some entertaining moments.

I Love You, Man is a decent comedy, which does have some very funny moments. As a whole, however, it is not nearly as good as many of its contemporary comedies. I love that this takes the whole bromance concept to a new level, and I genuinely hope all those involved with this film continue to make similar movies. Unfortunately, I just didn't like this movie nearly enough, and no where close to how much I wanted to. It is a bit too forgettable and needed a touch of heart and substance that are both lacking.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Pineapple Express, Role Models, The 40 Year-Old Virgin